Will post a pattern eventually, but now that I have all this free practice in, this one will cost a small fee.
This is what I accomplished on my sick day:
These will be sold @ EsoZone and the pattern will soon be available here.
Crochet is amazing. I wish I didn’t have to work, who knows what I could accomplish.
Well, here’s to hoping my fever/cold gets better. 
This project started awhile back- before I left Saint Louis, really. I wanted one of those really posh sweaters from Urban Outfitters or Anthropologie, but I wanted to knit it myself, AND from clearance dollar-a-skein, yet still alluring yarn. The sweater this is based on is long gone, but it has my seven favorite features: a hood, 3/4 sleeves, an empire waist, flattering ribbing, lace to naturally emphasize the bust, cardigan style, and giant buttons.
Because of its features, it’s also the perfect companion to all those dreary, drizzling northwest days. And it only cost $12 to make. Whoo hoo!
MATERIALS:
-8 balls of Yarn Bee Icelandic Jewels in Black Pearl (or approx. 1025 yds of comparable heavy worsted weight wool)
-2 large buttons
-sewing needle, matching thread
-2 size 10 1/2 straight needles or one 24′-36′ circular needle
-2 size 5 DPN’s (for I-cord)
GAUGE:
20 sts = 5.5′, so approx. 4 sts per inch. Pattern designed for medium size (32′-36′ waist/bust). Large and extra large follow in parentheses. The cardigan design is pretty forgiving, if in doubt go down one size.
FRONT:
LEFT SIDE: Cast on 40 (48, 52) stitches.
Row 1: knit 1, purl 1. Repeat to last stitch.
Rows 2 & 4: work stitches as they appear.
Row 3: knit 1, purl 1. Repeat until two stitches remain, p2tog.
Repeat these four rows 8 times, total of 32 rows. Should measure about 8 inches.
Work the next six rows in stockinette (knit RS, then purl WS) leaving a selvage of 4 (6, 8 ) sts of 1X1 ribbing on each edge.
LACE PATTERN:
Row 37: k1, p1 (repeat these two sts 3x for L, 4x for XL), k2, *k2tog, k3, YO, k1, YO, k3, k2tog* (repeat *-* once more), p2, k1, p1 (repeat last 2 sts 3x, 4x).
Row 38 (and all even rows): work stitches as they appear.
Row 39: k1 , p1, (repeat these 2 sts 3x, 4x), k2, *k2tog, k2, YO, k3, YO, k2, k2tog* (repeat *-* once more), p2, k1, p1 (repeat last 2 sts 3x, 4x, cont for each even row).
Row 41: k1 , p1, (X3, X4) k2, *k2tog, k1, YO, k5, YO, k1, k2tog* (repeat *-*), p2, k1, p1 (X3, X4).
Row 43: k1, p1, (X3, X4) k2, *YO, k3, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k3, YO* (rep *-*), p2, k1, p1 (X3, X4).
Row 45: k1, p1, (X3, X4) k2, *k1, YO, k2, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k2, YO, k1* (rep *-*), p2, k1, p1 (x3, x4).
Row 47: k1, p1, (x3, x4) k2, *k2, YO, k1, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k1, YO, k2* (rep *-*), p2, k1, p1 (x3, x4).
Repeat rows 37-48 for rows 49-60.
BEGIN RAGLAN DECREASES:
RS- knit across row until 2 stitches remain; k2tog.
WS- purl.
Continue for 22 more rows (24 rows total); BO. Piece should measure about 21 inches.
FOR RIGHT FRONT:
Repeat, EXCEPT-
1. For rows 1-32, you will decreasing (ppso) at the BEGINNING of rows 3, 7, 10, 14, etc.
2. For rows 60-84, decrease (ppso) at the BEGINNING of all even rows.
BACK:
Cast on 80 (84, 88 ) sts.
Row 1: k1, p1, repeat until end.
Row 2: work sts as they appear.
Row 3: psso, p1, k1, p1, repeat until 2 sts remain, p2tog.
Row 4: work sts as they appear.
Work rows 1-4 8 times, 32 rows total.
Row 33: knit
Row 34: purl
Repeat for rows 35-60.
Begin working raglan decreases. Decrease at the beginning and end of each knit row of RS, purl the WS. Repeat until row 74.
Begin short rows. Knit 12 sts, wrap & turn, purl. k9, w&t, purl. k6, w&t, purl. k3, w&t, purl.
Bind off as you knit the next row (across entire top of sweater back). Begin short rows on the last 12 sts, same as the first side. Bind off last 3 stitches. Piece should measure about 22 inches.
SLEEVE:
Cast on 30 (34, 38) sts.
Row 1: k1, p1, repeat.
Row 2 & all even rows: work sts as they appear.
Row 3: m1, knit made stitch, p1, repeat to last stitch, m1.
Repeat rows 1-4 5 times, total of 20 rows.
Row 21: knit
Row 22: purl
Row 23: m1, knit to last st, m1
Row 24: purl.
Repeat until piece measures the length from a few inches above the wrist to the crease of your armpit- number of rows is not significant.
Begin working raglan decreases. Work stockinette, decreasing one stitch at the beginning AND end of every other row (RS is easiest). Continue until raglan edge on sleeve is equal to raglan edge of the front/back pieces.
At this point, you should start pinning everything together and sew seams. (For tips on good seams, go here.) You may need to sew up the shoulder (closer to the neck) a bit- I did. The shoulders can droop a little bit- no worries, the hoodie will fix this. Once you are finished sewing the pieces together, take a measurement of the entire neckline. This will be Magical Number X.
HOODIE:
(Now… I like my hoods BIG. Nothing is worse than a wimpy hoodie that looks like a swim cap. If you happen to not agree, cast on less sts.)
Cast on 100 sts. Work 8 rows of 1X1 ribbing. Continue until piece measures HALF of Magical Number X. Bind off loosely. With rib sts at the top, fold finished rectangle in half (widthwise), and sew the two bottom edges together. VOILA! Hood! But… if you’re like me and don’t want to look like an elf, you can take that sharp pointy corner at the top and fold it down into a triangle INSIDE the hood. Stitch along the folded edge, and then inside along both sides of the triangle. Much better. Next, sew your hoodie onto the neckline of your sweater.
Now it’s button time.
Using size 5 DPNs, knit an I-cord 3 sts wide and two times longer than your button is wide (Tutorial here.) Make 2 of these- one for each button. Now, put your sweater back on and pin the buttons and I-cords where they look best. Sew them on with a thread and needle.
Finished!
These were really easy and fun. One of the huge reasons I learned to crochet was that it is so easy to improvise as you go along. Unfortunately, it makes it very hard to write patterns (i.e. “how did I do that?”) So, consider this a basic tutorial. This project is a stash buster- all those little endlings of different skeins will come in handy here.
First, google a picture of the character you want to do, and pick a few outstanding features. Using a G hook, ch 10 sts into magic loop. Join with sl st, then, without turning, sc2 into each ch to make a dome shape, or to make a pointy head (for yoda, etc), sc into ch, then sc2 into next ch, repeat. Continue increasing until diameter is as large as you want amigurumi to be- for me it was 3-4 rows, then continue sc into each sc in a spiral. When amigurumi is as tall as you want it to be, stuff it with filling, and something to weigh the bottom down. I use pennies, whatever I have laying around. Do one of row of sc2 into every sc stitch, then skp 1, sc1, repeat, until you have 1 st left. This will give a nice, flat bottom. Pull yarn into a knot, and you’re finished. For Leia, I did one additional decrease & one increase row for the neck:
To make her hair, I crocheted a bunch of strands of yarn into a line across the top of her head, the way you would do fringe, and then parted them down the middle. I then braided 3 long pieces of yarn, cut out a piece of felt, and hot glued the braid in a spiral onto the felt. I then hot glued the felt onto the sides of Leia’s head, pulling in the loose ends of yarn underneath. I also crocheted a “hood” onto her back from a small rectangle. Just crochet one long side of a rectangle together, voila, easy “hoodie”.
For Chewbacca, I used a super fuzzy yarn, and crocheted a simple dome from top to bottom. I then cut eyes, teeth, and a bandolier from felt and handstitched them on.
For yoda, I made a pointy head, and then separately crocheted 2 long triangles for pointy ears. I attached my yarn and did a single crochet row for each eyebrow. For the feet, single crochet 3, then turn and sc2 into sc, sc, then sc2 into sc, turn, and sc, slip, sc, slip, sc. This will create a web-like foot.
Bobba Fett was just like Chewie, except I cut out a felt mask, armor, and cape instead.
For the bottom edge of Darth Vader’s helmet, I increased for 2 rows, cut yarn, then reattached & crocheted a regular row into the *underside* of the increase rows. After finishing, I went back and crocheted a row of sc for the face part of the helmet. I used beads for eyes, and used felt for the cape and other details.
For R2D2’s feet, I attached yarn to the bottom, then created a square by crocheting a sequence of sc, hdc, dc, tc, dc, hdc, sc. Do this twice to make a square. Repeat for each foot. If you are using thinner yarn, you may want to do a sc around the edge for more width.
Don’t worry if these instructions don’t make sense just reading them, once you get going, it’s easier to see how it works. Best of all these are small, so no big loss if it takes a few tries to get the right shape. It’s truly amazing how much personality a few pieces of felt can take on… so cute they are hard to give away!
Three weddings in one week (including my own !!!)… it must be June! This was a gift I was able to finish in a few evenings. I seem to have a problem with colorwork- not that it’s particularly hard, mind you, just that my mind wanders and I’ll do the same two rows several times. Whoops. This pattern, however, is very easy, memorizes quickly, and produces beautiful results. It’s a simplified version of the traditional wedding ring quilting pattern of interlocking wedding rings. A functional memento- gotta love that!
I had a shopping spree at the MegaCraftBoxStore, and I purchased some Debbie Mumm Traditions in chocolate raspberry- a budget version of Noro Kureyon. It’s softer and has no knots. BUT it not only builds the typical wool-cheerio I loathe so much- it also unwinds and gathers as you knit (like another budget favorite, Homespun), which is AWFUL. I’m sure there’s some technical term for that I don’t know. Anyhow, the finished product is very soft and beautiful, but I’m wary of the yarn’s ability to hold up. Lesson: I may officially be a yarn snob.
THE PATTERN:
Materials: approx 150 of self-striping wool in worsted weight, size 8 straight needles, 2 yds decorative trim, 3/4 yd of coordinating fabric for pillowcase, 14′X14′ pillow insert, thread.
Wind 2/3 yarn into a ball- this is MC. Wind the rest into another- this is CC.
Using size 8 needles and MC, cast on 70 stitches.
Attach CC and begin working color chart as follows:
Repeat rows 1-10 SIX times. Bind off and weave in ends. Optional- with a H-hook, crochet a row of single crochet around outside of piece for a nice edge to sew into.
(The next part involves sewing, so if you’d rather skip that, you could use double the yarn, and make an all-yarn pillowcase.)
Since machine-sewing a knitted a piece is VERY ill-advised, begin by handstitching the decorative trim to the edges of knitted piece. I flipped a loop at each corner, like this:
At the end, do a few whip stitches to secure the two ends of the trim and prevent fraying.
Cut a 14′X28′ rectangle from fabric. Fold in half with right side out, and pin the knitted piece VERY CAREFULLY to fabric. You want to stretch it, but keep your lines straight and margins even. Ironing may help! Carefully sew a straight stitch through the center of each edge, skipping the corner loops. Then, fold fabric in half so knitting is inside, and pin around three edges. Using a tight zig-zag stitch, sew around outer edge, being careful again that your margins are even. Sew a few inches on the fourth side, but leave the rest unsewn. Flip the pillowcase inside out, insert pillow, and handstitch the unfinished seam. Use pins to fold an even line, and whip stitch the seam.
And there you have it!
For years I’ve always had a sewing machine around, but I’m now the proud owner of a Singer Esteem II. My grandmother would roll over in her grave if I were to buy anything else- she was a professional seamstress for Singer for years.
So far, I love it. I’ve not had issues with stitches skipping or bobbins jamming that I’ve had with other machines. So add my beautifully working machine to my recent nesting instinct and you get… lots of curtains. My manual told me all I needed to know about thread tension and hemming techniques, and here are the fruits of my labors:
Morroccan Shower Curtain
I bought expensive fabric that I had to stretch across a pretty big space, so I decided to cut nesting shapes that I could sew into a tile pattern. I hemmed the edges, and added something new for me- grommets!
I made some peacock hooks by hot gluing a peacock feather to the back of each hook:
Using a paper template, I cut out 18 tiles of fabric, arranged them on the copper-colored fabric, and stitched around each edge. The fabric ended being perfect, because it was gathered around the stripes, which gave me room for error. Close-up of the Morrocco-themed tile:
Lesson here: it’s ok to splurge on expensive fabric for items you plan to use everyday.
Bedroom Curtain
This one was made from red silk dupioni. The fun part here was the beaded trim. Also considering adding some hooks on the back so that it can change into a valance.
Trim! Gives the curtain such a nice weight and drape:
Fun new tricks:
Blind hem tutorial
Sewing with trim
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For the yarn, I chose Noro Kureyon, the yarn everyone loves to hate. I chose the brightest colorway available and bought 2 skeins. Noro regularly discontinues colors, so make sure you buy enough- 2 skeins should do it unless you’re planning to use small needles. I also chose the Wool Peddler’s handpicked recycled silk, again making a special note to pick the brightest colors possible.
Pro-tip: the finished piece should come out to be 14″X28″, but buy your pillow insert AFTER you knit in case it’s a little bigger or smaller.
Gauge: 3 sts per inch. On smaller needles, knit a swatch and calculate cast on stitches, allowing for room for lace stitches to stretch (i.e. cast on about 10-20 LESS.)
Using size 10 needles, cast on 90 stitches with yarn A- Kureyon.
Feather & Fan Stitch:
Row 1: Knit.
Row 2: Purl.
Row 3: *YO, YO, YO, K2tog, K2tog, K2tog, YO, YO, YO*, repeat *-* to end.
Row 4: Knit.
Repeat 2X, then switch to yarn B- recycled silk. Continue pattern, switching yarns every 8 rows. Repeat until piece measures 14″, then loosely bind off. Sew two edges of the rectangle together to form a square, leaving one side open to insert pillow. Insert pillow and stitch third side. You’re done!
Optional: sew a fabric lining for the pillow to avoid the white pillow showing through.
I had no idea until today that Dr. Tiller of the Women’s Clinic in Wichita, Kansas had been murdered. I always feel sick to the stomach when I hear about things of this nature, but this one is especially personal.
I was a patient of his. I arrived to the Women’s Clinic in February of 2000, terrified and broke. My friend Brian had decided to go with me, and our first night in Kansas we spent freezing in my car, unable to afford a hotel room. The next morning when we arrived, a hysterical woman ran up to Brian’s car in an ankle-length fur coat screaming “YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS!” Even at 7 am, there were several other protesters milling around across street, as they were legally not allowed on the premises. Brian had the sense to tell them to leave us alone, while I, caught off guard, just sat there.
I walked through a metal detector through a double set of privacy doors. A security guard checked me and Brian in- I thought it excessive at the time, but it obviously wasn’t excessive enough. Smack in the middle of Kansas, this clinic has been the recipient of vandalism, gunfire, and bombs. There was an orientation, some doctor visits, packets of information, numbers, and advice, etc. I got to meet several other girls and hear heartbreaking story after heartbreaking story. No one, not a single person there deserves any wrath of any kind. Several stories literally brought me to tears- a woman with a braindead baby growing in her womb, an autistic girl who had been raped, a homeless woman who had been abandoned by her husband, and another very young girl from South America whose stepfather had abused her.
I remember how kind he was. He walked up to our group and asked us what we thought the pro-life movement was about. He said his answer was CONTROL. Other people wanted to control our lives, men wanted to control our decisions, and religion wanted to control our laws.
He made several speeches that impacted me greatly, and honestly still stick with me to this day. Of these, the most hard-hitting was telling us that we had all made a sacrifice for freedom. “What are YOU going to do with this freedom?” he asked. He told us statistically, we were likely to end up back in the same spot if we didn’t understand our sacrifice. He even made a point of making us write out essays during our group sessions. He gave us strength and never once blamed us or made us feel we were terrible people. And we needed that, because no matter what pro-life people want to believe, making that choice is probably one of the hardest choices you’ll ever have to make. And it lends itself to a cycle of internal guilt and self-destruction because we come from a society that would rather point fingers than listen and educate.
I wonder how things turned out for the other women that went through. I hope they remained strong and I hope they learned to understand their sacrifice. I did, and I wonder if somehow Dr. Tiller did as well.
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My Aunt Sandy has been a constant source of artistic learning and inspiration for me. When she visited me a couple summers ago in Saint Louis, she brought her silk dying supplies with her and showed me how to do it. The results can be very impressive (here is one fairly successful seller on etsy: Ocean Ave Silks).
The tecnique is very basic- you wet the scarf and apply the dye with a paintbrush. It’s very similar in skill to watercolor. You can achieve some powerful effects by tossing on some salt and alcohol, both of which absorb, bleed, and distort the dye. You can also paint with a resist that keeps the dye from bonding with the fabric- this allows the piece to become more like a watercolor painting with different sections of paint and color, or lines in between separate sections. An example from painter Puteri:
Less impressive (but hey it was my first!) here is mine:
close-up of the salt effect:
Once you have the scarf finished, the rest of the process is pretty time consuming. The dyes we used were heat set. Once dry, we ironed the scarf one ironing board section at a time. After being set, the piece is washable. The colors fade a bit, but it’s really rather pretty that way- more like a watercolor. You can use more vibrant dyes, but the process is much more of a pain in the ass. Here is the finished product:
A project I would love to try again!
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I was hit with an idea too sweet to resist: receive a bag of found/donated fabric scraps and, in two months, design a dress to hit the runway in a DIY fashion show in which all creations would be auctioned for charity. Andrea, one of the organizers asked me to participate, and ever since then I have been giddy to share my creating process. I wanted to wait until after the show so everyone could see the finished product in its catwalk glory. Here are the raw materials I received:
Here are my initial sketches… right away I was pretty sure I wanted to do some kind of cocktail dress- formal and girly.
My workstation:
The ruffles and skirt were the first thing to take shape. There was so much white fabric, I decided to do a circle skirt. Very easy- cut a circle, a waist-size hole at the top, then hem the edges.
The fabric I had for the top was a little more limited. I decided to do a halter top and use the highly cherished purple polka dot fabric for the ties on the top and skirt:
The rules stated that we should try to use as much of the fabric as possible. There was some of the white fabric left over and a bunch of scraps of lacy purple stuff. Inspired by my new Wabi Sabi book, I decided to sew the pieces exactly as they were as an overlay on the huge white skirt. The rest was made into some arm warmers, to complete the debutante sort of look I was going for:
AND THE FINISHED PRODUCT:
Things I learned:
1. I love this machine. It’s the best one I’ve gotten to work with which is good, since it is the only one that is actually mine.
2. I’m becoming a thread tension ninja. I never realized just how important this is to having fun instead of screaming expletives.
3. You can actually do quite a lot with somewhat unideal fabric. It’s all about figuring what works where.
4. Deadlines are my friend.
Photos by K are still being held hostage by his camera (i.e. we still can’t find the cord). Until it is found, enjoy these photos by Bruce Bollard! (link).
Since this is my most “hearted” finished object on ravelry, I guess it would a good place to start to offer a tutorial. I’ve tried a few different “fishnet” type projects, including Stitch ‘n Bitch’s “Quick-n-Dirty Fishnets” and Knitty’s “Lolita Legs”. After altering “Lolita Legs” quite a bit, I came up with this:
They are much easier than they look, and since they lace up the back, they allow for mistakes in increases and such. I used a cotton yarn, but anything that is hard-wearing and washable will do. Count on using about 250 yds, usually about 2 skeins.
Use size 13 needles- I used DPNs but the stockings will be knit entirely flat and joined with a lace-up seam. This seems to work faster, but if you wish, you can knit in the round until after the heel.
Cast on 24 stitches.
Row 1- Knit.
Row 2 (and all even rows)- Purl.
Row 3- knit.
Row 5- slip 1, *YO, k2tog*, rep *-*, slip last stitch
Row 7- slip 1, *Skp, YO*, rep *-*, slip last stitch
(this is the basic fishnet pattern)
Row 9- slip 1, m 1, *YO, k2tog*, rep *-*, slip last stitch
Row 11- slip 1, m1, *Skp, YO*, rep *-*, slip last stitch
Repeat rows 5-12 until length is same as toe to beginning of heel, approx two repeats.
Heel:
Row 1- kn 2, *YO, k2tog*, rep *-*, kn 2
Row 3- kn 4, *Skp, YO*, rep *-*, kn4
Row 5- kn 2, *YO, k2tog*, rep *-*, kn 2
Leg (continues as same fishnet pattern with less increases):
slip 1, m1, *YO, k2tog*, rep *-*, slip last stitch
slip 1, *Skp, YO*, rep *-*, slip last stitch
Continue until piece is desired length, allowing a couple extra inches for horizontal stretching. If you have used cotton yarn, Remember it will tend to loosen a bit.
Work a few rows of stockinette with a bigger needle (size 15 for S-M, 17 for L-XL). Bind off VERY LOOSELY. Use extra yarn for laces- cut it about 2X longer than the stockings. Wind it through the eyelet stitches along either side and tie at the top. I highly recommend hand-sewing in some elastic at the top- just be careful not to get it too tight. You can also “join” the sides by sewing the elastic into a circle.
